How to Use POS Analytics to Your Advantage

February 23, 2018

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Simple reports and analytics from your point of sale software help you run your daily operations more efficiently. They give you important sales and inventory data over a specific time period, so you can see what sold and when.

To understand how this data can take your business to the next level, you need to have a more global view of your business. POS analytics may sound messy and complex, but they don’t have to be. Plus, you don’t have to be a mathematical genius to understand them.

Beyond Purchasing

Your point of sale software can tell you exactly how many items are being sold and what the details of those items are, enabling you to know what stock you should purchase more of and what may be needing to be removed from the menu. But, did you know that Deliverit’s DPos can actually run a report to inform you of your items particular success rate in any given timeframe?

These reports can tell you which menu item is the most popular. Which one sold the best in the recent promotion and if that new pizza was really worth the hassle.

How Well Do You Know Your Customers?

Shop owners need to understand the cyclical nature of their customers’ purchasing habits. Knowing what your customers purchase and when they purchase it allows owners of store to strategically target specific customers at specific times. One way to do this is to focus on separating your menu into category ranges, then run a sub-category report for the total sales in a specific timeframe. Take a look at the spikes and dips in the data. If you can, take a historical look at the past three years to get an even better idea of your customers’ buying habits (if not possible look back as far as you can). This will help you forecast the busy seasons, as well as the slow ones.
For restaurant owners with multiple stores, understanding the differences in sales between each store provides insight into your customers’ demographics and the local competition. If one store is underperforming in one or more categories, then you can do some research to find out why and how to correct the problem. This is known as store-customization, which allows you to treat your stores as a group, as opposed to individuals.

Next Up – Marketing

With all of your sales data, you can effectively target your customers with direct marketing campaigns. During the slow times, you’ll know when to advertise discounted prices. Then, during busier times, you can feature higher priced items.

POS analytics can also inform a targeted-marketing campaign. Simply use the same product categories in your sales reports to find out which ones are underperforming. Then, you can use your customer email list or phone numbers to send direct marketing SMS or emails to promote the products. This is a very effective way to generate awareness, and improve sales. This also encourages customer loyalty.